E-ACT

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E-ACT
E-ACT Logo.png
Formation6 March 2008; 13 years ago (2008-03-06)[1]
TypeMulti-academy trust
HeadquartersThe Orangery
Location
ServicesEducation
Chairman
Michael Wemms[2]
Jane Millward [2]
E-ACT Board of Trustees supported by Executive Leadership Team[2]
Staff
2,300[3]
Websitewww.e-act.org.uk
Formerly called
  • Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust
    (22 May 2008–05 February 2010)[1]
  • Edutrust Academies Trust
    (06 Mar 2008–22 May 2008)[1]

E-ACT is a multi-academy trust responsible for 28 academies in England.[5]

As an academy trust, it is an exempt charity regulated by the Department for Education.[6]

E-ACT splits its 28 academies into two regional clusters called 'North' and 'South', each of which is led by a regional education director and a regional operations director.[7]

History[]

Until 2009 the Chief Executive of the Trust was Ian Comfort, who left his post alleging whistleblowing concerns, whilst the trust claimed "poor performance" issues.[8] In March 2013 an audit by the UK Department for Education concluded that "boundaries between E-ACT and its subsidiary, E-ACT Enterprises Ltd (EEL) are blurred" (page 3), "activities undertaken by the subsidiary have been paid for with public funds and so appear irregular" (page 3), and "there has been a flow of public monies into EEL that cannot be said to directly benefit teaching and learning in E-ACT academies" (pages 12–13).[9]

A 2011 Guardian article reported that in 2010 its director-general Sir Bruce Liddington had a salary package of £280,017.[10] Sir Bruce Liddington resigned in 2013 after E-ACT received an official warning from the government regarding "financial mismanagement".[11] The investigation report into E-ACT found that internal financial controls were weak, there was a culture of extravagant expenses, governance procedures were unusual, and that payments were made to trustees in a manner unusual for the charitable sector.[12]

In 2014, the Department for Education removed E-ACT as sponsor from 10 academies after Ofsted inspectors raised serious concerns,[5] noting extravagant spending on expenses and £393,000 of spending with "procedural irregularities" including on unapproved consultancy fees.[13]

E-ACT Enterprises LTD was dissolved shortly after Sir Bruce Liddington's departure. In addition, E-ACT has made considerable changes to its previous administration practices (including reducing back office costs by 73%) as audited in its public accounts and the salary of its subsequent CEO, David Moran, reduced significantly.[14]

In January 2016, E-ACT moved to a centralised process for monitoring standards. There is now a single central governing body covering all academies in the group across the country.[15] Ambassadorial Advisory Groups were introduced at a local academy level.[16]

In 2017, E-ACT introduced a mental health first aid programme, aiming to train every member of staff to understand and recognise the early warning signs of mental health problems in pupils.[17] E-ACT also announced plans to pioneer a pupil-led mental health curriculum in all its schools.[18]

In August 2019, David Moran stepped down as CEO. When he joined the organisation in 2013, 17% of E-ACT’s academies were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. By the time of his departure, that figure was over 70%.[19] E-ACT's Board of Trustees announced Deputy CEO Jane Millward as David’s successor.[20]

Academies[]

Primary[]

  • E-ACT Blackley Academy
  • Badock's Wood E-ACT Academy
  • Braintcroft E-ACT Academy
  • Chalfont Valley E-ACT Primary Academy
  • Denham Green E-ACT Primary Academy
  • Greenfield E-ACT Primary Academy
  • Hareclive Academy
  • Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy
  • Mansfield Green E-ACT Primary Academy
  • Merritts Brook E-ACT Primary Academy
  • Nechells Primary E-ACT Academy
  • Pathways E-ACT Academy
  • Perry Court E-ACT Academy
  • Reedswood E-ACT Primary Academy
  • St Ursula’s E-ACT Academy

Secondary[]

All-through[]

Academies previously sponsored[]

Primary[]

  • Aldborough E-ACT Free School (to 31 May 2014)[21] (now sponsored by Loxford School Trust), with effect from 1 June 2014. The school is now known as Aldborough Primary School.
  • Hartsbrook E-ACT Free School (to 31 August 2014)[22] (now sponsored by Lion Education Trust), with effect from 1 September 2014. The school was closed on 31 August 2014, and re-opened on 1 September 2014 as Brook House Primary School.[23][24][25][26]

Secondary[]

All-through[]

  • Dartmouth Academy (to 31 August 2014)[36] (now sponsored by Kingsbridge Academy Trust), with effect from 1 September 2014. Nick Hindmarsh, Principal has said that: "The name of the trust will change following a consultation exercise across the schools’ communities".

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "E-ACT". Companies House. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "How we work". E-ACT. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Work for us". E-ACT. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Our Mission". E-ACT. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b "List of E-ACT Academies". E-ACT. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Regulation of schools and academies with exempt charity status". GOV.uk. 17 May 2021.
  7. ^ "How we work". E-ACT. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  8. ^ Curtis, Polly (28 Nov 2008). "Government launches inquiry into academy funds allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 Dec 2015.
  9. ^ "Review of Financial Administration and Governance at E-ACT: Final Report" (PDF). External Assurance team, Education Funding Agency, Department for Education. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  10. ^ Wilby, Peter (7 November 2011). "Academy sponsor defends high pay and high expectations". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  11. ^ Paton, Graeme (26 Apr 2013). "Academy boss quits over probe into school finances". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  12. ^ Judith Burns (17 May 2013). "'Culture of extravagant expenses' at academy group". BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  13. ^ Richard Vaughan (3 February 2014). "'Extravagant' expenses and 393K 'irregularities'". TES Connect. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  14. ^ Warwick Mansell. "E-Act academy chain abandons plans for world domination". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "Academy chain to scrap governing bodies". BBC News.
  16. ^ "How we work". E-ACT. 29 Nov 2017.
  17. ^ "Promoting mental health awareness across the trust". E-ACT. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  18. ^ "Every teacher must be trained in mental health first aid, academy chain says". Tes. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  19. ^ "E-ACT annual report 2017-2018" (PDF).
  20. ^ "David Moran to step down as chief executive at the end of August 2019". E-ACT. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  21. ^ "Ministerial Approval". E-ACT. 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Establishment: Hartsbrook E-ACT Free School - Summary". Department for Education - EduBase. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  23. ^ "Establishment: Brook House Primary School - Summary". Department for Education - EduBase. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  24. ^ "Establishment: Hartsbrook E-ACT Free School - Links". Department for Education - EduBase. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  25. ^ "Department for Education - Performance Tables - Hartsbrook E-ACT Free School, 138259". Department for Education - School and College Performance Tables. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  26. ^ "Department for Education - Performance Tables - Brook House Primary School, 141209". Department for Education - School and College Performance Tables. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Leeds East Academy - White Rose Academies Trust". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  28. ^ "White Rose Academies Trust". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  29. ^ "The Forest High School - New name, new start for Forest Academy, Cinderford".
  30. ^ "Sherwood Academy Home Page - Welcome to our website". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  31. ^ "Sherwood E-Act Academy will close, trust confirms". Nottingham Post. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  32. ^ "Ofsted". Archived from the original on 2012-08-06.
  33. ^ "The Purston E-ACT Academy - Message to All Parents & Carers". tpea.org.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  34. ^ "The Lincoln College Group". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  35. ^ "The Winsford E-ACT Academy - Winsford Academy Joins The Fallibroome Multi-Academy Trust". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  36. ^ Hindmarsh, Nick (8 September 2014). "Welcome back to the new school year!". Principal's Blog. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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